Pre season update

As the season edges closer and the better weather arrives the course is beginning to take shape. With most of our winter projects complete and most others close to being complete the focus over the next few weeks will be to return the course to its full length and start our usual summer procedures. 

Operations such as mowing, topdressing, spraying, spiking and fertilising have all been started on various areas. 

Tees

Tees have been spiked, cut, sprayed and topdressed. These should return to play by this weekend.

Fairways

Fairways are in the process of being cut. We have also been given sand that has recently been lifted from the school AstroTurf. This will allow us to top dress all fairways this year and will be a big help to us. Selected fairways have been sprayed and we will be applying fertiliser to some shortly. Full play on fairways returns this weekend weather dependant.

Greens/approaches

All greens have been cut, sprayed, topdressed and are in the process of getting spiked. Work will continue on these throughout the week in order to hopefully have them in play for this weekend. With the winter drainage works and some other repair jobs on a few greens there will be some on temporary greens although these will be on the approaches rather than fairways where possible. 

Other tasks taking place over the next week or so will include returning all the course furniture after their winter refurb to the course. Finishing off of turfing jobs and repairs to some bunkers. As always general tidying of the course to remove twigs, cones, branches and other debris from playing areas will be ongoing. 

We have added some new machinery to our fleet which include a replacement spiking machine, tractor mounted blower and a topdressing brush. These machines will allow us to finish tasks not only quicker but to a much higher standard than previously possible. The team are looking forward to putting these to use. 

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us and we can all enjoy a long and successful season. The team as always will strive to make golfing at Auchterarder the best possible experience it can be for members and visitors at all times. 

Included are some pictures of tasks that have been taking place over the winter period. 

New year update!

After the winter holidays work resumes as normal from Monday 6th January. Our main aim over the next few weeks will be to complete the drainage works on the 2nd, 13th and 18th greens. This work will be carried out by contractors working alongside the green keeping team. 

Some repair work/drainage work has already taken place before the Christmas break most noticeably at the 7th approach. The damaged/worn area directly in front of the green has been lifted and the soil/clay dug out to a depth of 8inches. Three new lateral drains were then installed and connected to an existing main pipe filled with gravel and then root zone in preparation for turfing. Turfing of the area has now also been completed using established turf from the putting which will help with returning the area to playing condition as soon as is possible. A picture is included of this work in progress.

Turf from the putting green will be used throughout the drainage works on the greens as it will give these areas the best/quickest chance of full recovery.

The bunker on the right of the 2nd has recently been given an extensive make over! This was required as the existing bunker had some issues with drainage. We also felt that the contours were leaving some golfers with an unfair shot due to the narrow middle section and took this opportunity to make it more playable. Pictures of the process are included below.

We also had two very large trees fall down beside the 7th green with the strong winds before Christmas. This was a lengthy process to get them cut up and removed from the area safely. Pictures included. 

Other jobs taking place over the early part of the year include general maintenance and tidying of the course for play on a daily basis. Also the furniture maintenance program which takes a consideral amount of time will be carried out mainly when we have poorer weather conditions. There is also a burst in an irrigation pipe which has been located and will be repaired shortly.

Unfortunately with the amount of rain of rain at the start of this year we have been forced to move onto winter greens. This will be assessed regularly and if the weather Improves and the course becomes dryer a return to the 'big greens' will be imminent. 

VANDALISM

Some of our members may be aware that over the holiday period we had an incident occur on the 17th summer green. Unfortunately someone has caused excessive damage to the green using mainly the heel of a boot/shoe and possibly another item that looks like the point of an umbrella. Pictures will be included below. This is type of behaviour is criminal damage and totally unacceptable. It is worrying for both staff and members alike. The golf club would ask if anyone has any information at all then please get in touch to either Archie or David in the office as this will be useful to see what can be done about the situation. The green staff are hopefully that the green can be repaired without too much disruption although it will take time from an already demanding schedule. 

Lastly the green staff would like to wish a Happy and successful New Year to all our members. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us and we will continue to do our best to ensure that the golf course is presented in its best possible condition and is enjoyable for all golfers. 

Start of winter work

With the colder weather and frost arriving the growth of the grass has started to slow right down. This has obviously resulted in cutting operations being cut back dramatically with the greens being cut only once per week currently at a slightly higher height of 4.25mm. Fairway, rough, tees and approach  cutting has also been cut right back. 

Alot of the work carried out over the past few weeks has involved blowing and clearing leaves and pine needles as the trees start to shed. This is an endless and very time consuming operation at this time of year and is almost impossible to keep on top of especially in windy conditions.

We have made a start to some of the winter projects noticeably the green side bunker at the 10th and also the green side bunker at the 2nd. 

The bunker at the 10th has had all of the old sand (white) dug out and replaced with new sand (brown) as the old sand was proving troublesome. We have also installed some new steps further up the bunker as requested at the recent members night. This will make access to the bunker a lot easier and safer. Pictures of various stages of the work will be included in this update. Also a section of turf has been replaced that had been worn out while accessing the bunker. Again the steps, if used appropriately, will prevent this happening again. 

The bunker at the second has also been started and will be ongoing in the coming weeks. There was problems with drainage and wear and tear in this bunker . New drainage will be installed and connected to existing drains and the bunker will also be reshaped as the narrow contours where also causing problems with shaping the sand to allow a fairer shot. There is also some pictures included of this task.

There is also work ongoing with installation of new practice mats at various distances on the practice range. 

Over the coming weeks/months there will be some more winter projects taking place and they will be included in future blogs. Pictures of various stages of the operations will be included to help show progression. 

As of yet the winter greens haven't been played on although they have continued to be cut weekly to ensure they are ready when required. These may also be used temporarily when jobs are being undertaking on or around the summer greens. 

October-end of season

    As we come to the end of what has been a successful and reasonably dry summer season we enter the winter months and a change in tasks carried out on the golf course. With most weeks consisting of the same work over the summer months the winter period will give us a chance to post some different things on the blog that may be of more interest. Some construction and maintenance operations will take place and images and a description of what has been done will be posted on the blog. Here is an update of some operations recently carried out.

Greens

• double scarified to a depth of 6mm
• autumn fertiliser 8.0.16 terralift applied @ 30gm2
• fungicide applied twice along with a wetting agent and phosphite

Hollow coring of greens will begin on Monday 7th October.

Tees & Approaches

• hollow cored and cleared
• double scarified at 6mm
• top dressed and over seeded
• tees fertilised 13.4.20 everris @30gm2
• approaches fertilised 6.5.10 everris @30gm2

General cutting of all areas has been ongoing and will continue until growth stops.
Height of cut has been raised on greens to 3.75mm.
A new practice net has been installed replacing the old worn one beside the clubhouse.
Frames have been built for new mats to be installed on the practice range. these mats will be of much higher quality than the previous mats.
All tees and fairways have been divoteed.
Work has started on cutting back some of the long areas of rough including the 5th, 6th and 15th.
Winter greens will be marked out and prepared in the coming weeks. These will be cut, spiked and top dressed to try and produce the best surface possible.

Greens update

Greens- watered as and when required during prolonged dry spells.

Verti-cut in two directions.

Top dressed and dragmatted/brushed in.

Fungicide and iron applied to greens.

Following week liquid fertiliser, wetting agent and micro nutrients applied.

Greens rolled regularly to maintain a speed of 9-9.5 feet on the stimp.

Bunker banks fly mowed and some faces sprayed with weed killer.

Tee banks cut using flymo's and sidewinder machine.

All tees divoted regularly and some of the bad fairways also done.

Tees sprayed with a liquid fertiliser and primo maxx which helps slows down the growth.

Some areas on the fairways and in the semi-rough sprayed with a selective weed killer.

Strimming carried out on various trees in semi-rough areas throughout the course.

Continued cutting daily of all greens, approaches, tees, fairways and semi-rough areas.

Irrigation boxes repaired/replaced at the 7th, 14th and 16th.

Course update

With the last few weeks being dryer and warmer the course has finally come to life! We are now getting the growth we have been waiting on. This has meant the last few weeks cutting procedures have increased hugely and are making up most of our day.

The fairways were fertilised with a 11-22-22 fertiliser 3 weeks ago and this has improved the growth, colour and density of the surface.

All greens were sprayed with a mixture including 2 litres of phosphite, 10 litres of go green, 10 litres of Scott's fertiliser, 2 litres of insecticide and 2 litres of dye. The 10th and 12th greens also had a 11-1-1 granular fertiliser applied. With a combination of this work, top dressing  and the warmer weather the greens have improved dramatically.

Three applications of top dressing have been applied to the greens over the last 3 weeks which has levelled off the surface and firmed it up. There may be other applications of top dressing through out as required. 

All tee banks and bunkers have beenfly mowed  regularly and this will be ongoing through out the growing season.

Heights of cut- greens 3.25mm

Tees/approaches 7mm

Fairways 10mm

Semi-rough/bankings 38mm

Fairway mowing and semi-rough mowing have also been ongoing. Fairways will usually be cut twice a week and occasionally more depending on growth. Semi-rough will be cut once or twice a week.

With the dryer weather we have also been watering selected areas that dry out quicker, most notably the 10th green. This will be ongoing as and when required through out the summer.

Hopefully the better weather continues and the course will continue to improve throughout the season. We are glad to see a big difference in the course and playing surfaces with the last 2 years being particularly wet!

Short update

As we approach the summer months we are starting to get into a more settled routine. As the temperature increases and we start to get more growth most of our time will be spent cutting. On top of cutting anything different or any changes will be included on these weekly updates.

Another top-dressing was applied to all greens and approaches and we are now seeing the benefits with greens becoming a lot firmer and smoother. This will continue for the next few weeks.

All greens aerated with the planet-air machine which has knife-like blades that cut slits in the green. This allows air into the soil, relieves compaction and helps with root growth. The great benefit with this machine is that after the operation is complete it is almost unnoticeable and has very little effect, if any on the roll of the ball. Pictures included.

On top of this process the 14th green has been hollow cored and the holes filled with kiln dried sand. With conditions improving and growth starting recovery time will be significantly quicker than usual. This will make a big difference to what has proved to be a troublesome green.

Included in the pictures is a picture of the 14th green getting brushed. This brush was borrowed from Gleneagles and is highly effective at brushing top-dressing into the surface. This was used on all greens after top dressing. We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with the greens staff at Gleneagles who also have occasional use of some of our equipment.

A major problem we have had over the last few months and has been getting progressively worse is un-repaired pitch marks on the greens. As the greens become firmer it is vital to repair pitch marks straight away as recovery time is significantly decreased the sooner they are fixed. Greenstaff repair pitch marks every morning but it is now becoming a lengthy process. 46 were repaired on one green after a medal not so long ago and this is totally unacceptable. There is a picture included that explains a little more and shows the best way to repair pitch marks.